Enslaved Voyages Memorial Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Chairman Grijalva, for yielding, and I thank him and Chairman Neguse for bringing this bill to the floor.

This bill would authorize the Georgetown African American Historic Landmark Project and Tour to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia commemorating the enslaved individuals who endured forced migration to the United States by way of the transatlantic slave trade. The National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission unanimously supported this bill, and it passed out of committee by unanimous consent.

We must not hide this history. Enslaved individuals, known and unknown, rest at the core of our Nation's history. The atrocities of the system of chattel slavery shed light on our Nation's central struggle between slavery and freedom--a freedom under which some could be owned, beaten, separated from their families, and denied any rights.

This bill provides for the creation of a powerful marker of truth- telling and remembrance. Let us honor the personhood of these individuals who were repeatedly assumed to have none so that they will never be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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